Thunder's Ibaka fined $25,000 for low blow

The Sports Xchange

The SportsXchangeMarch 6, 2013

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka was fined $25,000 by the NBA but avoided a suspension for a low blow against Clippers forward Blake Griffin during Sunday's game in Los Angeles. Ibaka and Griffin were battling for position in the lane in the fourth quarter when Ibaka grabbed Griffin's right arm and struck him in the groin area. Griffin fell to the floor in pain. The original call of a flagrant foul 1 against Ibaka, which allowed him to remain in the game, was changed to a fragrant foul 2 (which would have resulted in an ejection) upon further review by the league. Miami Heat forwards LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both tweeted incredulous reactions to the decision. They were surprised that Ibaka wasn't suspended in light of Wade's punishment in December for a groin kick to Roman Sessions. James: "So explain to me the difference? My teammate gets a 1 game suspension and 150k+ taking away from him for his groin altercation #strangetome" Wade: "All I can say is WoW....no pun intended but really....and I get suspended and lose 200 grand... #someexplainingtodo" Avoiding the suspension allowed Ibaka the chance to play in Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.